China imported a document quantity of Crude Oil in December and throughout 2025, pushed by larger refinery runs and aggressive stockpiling, Commerzbank’s commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.
Report Oil shopping for boosts world demand outlook
“China imported a document quantity of Crude Oil in December. The import quantity amounted to 56 million tons, or 13.2 million barrels per day. This was 17% greater than within the earlier yr and 6.4% greater than within the earlier month every day. Imports for 2025 as a complete additionally reached a document degree of 579 million tons or 11.6 million barrels per day.”
“This exceeded the earlier yr’s degree by 4.6%. One motive for that is the rise in Crude Oil processing in China, which was 4% larger after eleven months than in the identical interval final yr. The information for December will probably be revealed early subsequent week.”
“One more reason is the build-up of strategic reserves. Within the first eleven months of 2025, China imported an excellent 46 million tons or 1 million barrels per day greater than was processed by home refineries. By means of its reserve purchases, China absorbed a substantial portion of final yr’s oversupply and prevented a sharper decline in Oil costs.”